


A Little Too Human

by EnidZsasz



Category: Almost Human, Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Androids, Cyborg Human Relations, F/M, Reylo - Freeform, Robot Kink
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-09
Updated: 2019-01-10
Packaged: 2019-10-07 09:10:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,768
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17363174
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EnidZsasz/pseuds/EnidZsasz
Summary: Ren is a combat android, military grade and of those that were known to go psychopathic. Though how an android can go insane is beyond his computations. On a mistake during a strip down of usable parts he is activated and flees. Only to find himself far from anything he knows how to deal with, and quite a bit of how he knows how.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Cosmogonika](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cosmogonika/gifts).



The first thing Rey saw was a foot, and nothing else. It wasn't exactly odd, the city threw its trash out here after it was sorted, and then toss. Not many people saw the use in scavaning the trash, but her and a few others were able to find quite a lot that got past the city and its high walls. Outside it was mostly a wasteland with a few sparse trees, but she was told that the inside of the walled city was something of a paradise. It was something to look forward to once she earned, yes EARNED the right to be there. But that was for later, she carefully touched the foot, it didn't feel quite right, and it was attached deeper into the piled of compacted trash. An android foot, she could see some of the metal and wires that made up the quite wide foot. "That is lucky!" she whispered to herself giving a furtive glance towards the other pickers. Many looking for their own lucky finds. 

"Getting lucky?!" called one. 

"A foot aint lucky!" Rey called back. It wasn't THAT lucky but could rouse some others. If she wasn't honest by something obvious....

"Good, stay with it, don't touch my boards!" the reply came and Rey relaxed. She began to start to pry the foot out only it wouldn't budge. With another frown she started to unpack the entire cube, thankfully that was made from loose material, some kind of foam, which compacted and formed around the rest of the foot. The cub was three times as big as her, and she clambered on top of the thing, starting to go through the loose bits first. Then she could drill her staff in and use her body weight to crack it open and get to the rest of the foot. She flicked off some green foam and blinked down. Just under it was a few fingers. Her eyes went back to the people. 

"I'm sorry." she said lowly and popped back down. If there were fingers, then there must be something else compacted into the cube. Rey cut the foot off, cringing as she did so. If there was a whole android, or even a mostly whole android then that was the luck of several lifetimes. It would get her so much cash, not to mention might be the key thing to get her into the city. But only her, she looked to the others, and carefully covered the leaking left over foot. "I'm sorry, I'll repair it I promise!" she whispered to the cube and its occupant. Much later once night fell, and various spot lights randomly swept the ground she was back, now with more tools that were only borrowed. Luke would forgive her once she got this thing back to him. Getting the rest of him out took long moments of tense work, while it was fine to be near the wall of the city during the day, one could easily keep track of you, it wasn't okay to be this close at night. The machines would assume you are sneaking in, and would kill you, or detain you on sight. She couldn't risk that on the record. She had little time to care for how he looked, mostly still covered by the plastic material that all fresh droids came in. 

That caused her heart to flutter, a 'new' android? A NEW one? Lord help her, she'd be queen in the city. Getting him onto the cart was a chore and a half, but she was able to get out and away just as one of the lights nearly grazed her and her new best friend. Luke was swearing as she got into his low hut. "REY! GOD DAMNIT DID YOU GO OUT AT NIGHT AGAIN?!" he demanded. Rey grinned at him as he came out. "I told you a foot is-" he dropped off as she stood just in front of the android. "Holy Hell." 

"Indeed come on! We need to get him to the shop!" Luke quickly ferried her further into the home, and below into the mostly secret workshop below it. This was an old military bunker and had several layers below the main home. Though, that much was kept silent. With its proximity to the city there was no telling what rebels and madmen would use it to try to break into the city. Hell it COULD be connected to the city, Rey never bothered to go through the entire complex it gave her the shivers to be so underground. Luke peeled back and off the plastic cover with a frown. While the cover and the foam did much to keep the android from being damaged from the compactor he must be repaired. 

Part of his face was peeled off, exposing the uncanny metal skeleton, and portions of his torso were punctured. With the missing foot, which Luke quickly began to reattach. Rey busied herself in grabbing the scanner to make sure most of him wasn't damaged, and to see how much more needed to be done. While there were some more compilcated matters, like the 'wound' in his side which would need some more expensive materials, he was otherwise perfect. "Lucky day for you." she told the android lowly, just finishing the foot Luke looked up to her with a frown. 

"They aren't alive, and its likely this thing is deader then dead." he told her. She frowned at him. 

"Luke, be nice, he's far better looking then you could ever be. No gal likes a beard that has crumbs in it!" she joked, Luke frantically swiped at his face and then glared to her as she laughed. Today was fantastic and she AND Luke would be able to get into the city with this. Bribing after all is a different kind of earning your way in. 

* * *

 

The First thing that came to him was voices, a female and male. He controlled his systems to prevent any kind of reaction he wasn't sure how but better to pretend to be dead. Even though it was easy due to the lack of power. All of it concentrated to keep power to his 'brain' and prevent a system wipe. "Rey, would you stop talking to it!" said the male. "Its creepy!" she made a noise. 

"I told you once Luke, and I will tell you again and again, just because its a robot doesn't mean that he might not like being called an IT." she scolded. A woman already dear to what passes for a heart. At the moment he couldn't say for sure just what it was, he could only listen. There was a rush, and power flooded into his system. All of them were locked down, but now he could fully process just what exactly was going on. "There! See?! Looks like he's powering!" she told the man Luke excitedly. He stayed still, going through his memories instead. 

/////

Begin. 

He blinked his eyes open with a glance, and the most immediate though was Begin. A sort of sigh, and he blinked gasping, before someone cursed. "TAKE IT DOWN FAST!" Fear was the next, and he was gone. Programming keying up to the most it could, he avoided the humans. How were these things so slow? He ran, and ran, mind working, pulling up schematics. There was escape, and he took it. He didn't know why, but he had to live had to survive. It was only later when he was 'safe' in the trash that he could find out what exactly. But by then there was little to do as the compactor clamped down and he shut down. 

/////

"Hey there, are you awake?" the female asked him, he didn't respond. He could hear her muscles shift into a frown. 

"I doubt it works kiddo." the man said, and moved out and away. "Come on, we've spent to long down here. They'll get suspicious." Rey gave a huff as the man shifted. His mind worked, and with a tiny ping, so very tiny he had to be very very careful he found where he was. An escape route for the city for the elite. Or it once was an escape route. An expansive underground bunker, with several routes into the city and more going off into other bunkers. Most of it was sealed, most of it. He felt a hand touch his shoulder.

"See you later. Sleep well." she told him. Something unknown keyed into him, and he was at a loss as to what to do. He heard her left, and after a long moment in which he knew he was a lone opened his eyes and looked around the entire room. The bunker here was large, and it was a shop. Some android parts sat around leaving him with a amount of fear. Quickly self diagnosed his internal problems. He had to get out of here. Distantly there were voices and he knew that humans wouldn't be able to hear them but he could. Eyes scanning upwards he saw a main 'shop' portion. This 'Luke' and this 'Rey' spent a few moments taking to three people, one of which was armed, but they passed a car, needing repairs, to them. Then some money, or supplies he wasn't sure which as he flicked his eyes away. Them narrowing into more 'human' vision. Quite a lot of minor systems needed repairs, he shifted, sitting onto the side of the low table. 

There was none of that plastic covering anymore, and now he looked down at himself accessing. He had a simple pair of black pants and naught else. It left him a little touched, but there were still those parts around. His foot had been cut off, and he saw it had been reattached quite adeptly for a human to do. That unknown series of feelings returned, and he reached out and touched the skin where the girl had touched. The warmth of her skin didn't linger, and he felt like it should. The air here was cool, and he stood examining things. The android parts weren't android parts as first thought. They were prosthetic, for humans. Fear ebbed out of him and the need to flee went next. These were simple, very much unlike the newer models he could access in his head. Without the skin, or 'muscle' there was no wonder he was afraid at first. 

"Gonna just check up on him!" He heard Rey call. He quickly got himself back onto the table, the table charging his batteries and body further. That was odd, it had to be odd. He heard her soft footfalls as she peaked into the room and frowned. He could hear the muscles frowning. He had to be careful. "Hmm...." she mumbled. "You know, we aren't gonna hurt you." she told him. He didn't move. "But you know, play dead." he could hear the smile in her voice. He blinked his eyes open and stared at the woman. 

The First thing he noted was that she suffered from malnutrition for portions of her life. She was also slim now, but more well fed, albeit not the best. He locked his eyes one hers, they were brown as she grinned at him. "It's okay. We'll protect you." she told him soothingly, and he shifted a bit head going further up. "Can you tell me who you are?" she asked. 

"DRN-0835." he told her immediately. 

"How about Ben?" she shot back and he rose his eyes blinking. He didn't know why. "Settle down, and... please don't try to kill me and Luke." she told him and nodded, before heading back and away. He laid his head back down with a frown. While the access to the main network he had wasn't well, he was careful. DRNs. They were labeled a mistake, they were labeled dangerous and set to be destroyed. All of them, there were few living as it were. The computer in his head calculated his chances in a stressful sort of way, that left him feeling breathless. HIS type were highly sought after for these rebels outside the city. Doing anything for his type of machine. There was a lot to catch up on and at the moment his largest chance was to emotionally manipulate the girl. He stayed on the bed letting it fully charge his systems as he made a mental list of what needed repaired first. 

* * *

 

Rey was nervous, who couldn't be. If Luke knew what model of android was below he'd shut this whole thing down and kill the guy. DRN's were well known to volatile at the least. She repaired the car in the shop easily, while it would look odd to say the least to be doing work for the 'rebels' those that lived outside the city and caused problems for those inside she collected a mental list of Intel to tell the people in charge the moment she could. They didn't think much of her or Luke, and with their ease of at least showing they were cowed by these monsters. They spoke of a few bases and Rey kept them in her mind, she didn't like many of these people, they were more then willing to kill any android. She frowned at the memory. 

\\\\\\\\\

Whatever he was, Rey knew he wasn't human. Knew it in the way that any person knows the difference between human and manikin. But he was made to look old and kind and very much trustworthy. "I am MX-137-KA, come on little one." he soothed. Rey frowned at him in her home. A tiny pipe, she was SAFE there. Not a single one of these large people, adults, could reach her. He didn't try to reach her, and instead smiled towards her in a kindly way. He settled a bag down on the end of the pipe and vanished. After a long time of waiting she crept out and grabbed the bag, before taking it back further into the pipe. He didn't try to grab her like the other adults. Food, lots of food and she ate. "I am Tekka, its what the others call me." the old man android told her. "I was made to be a teaching Droid. Set to be decommissioned. But a charity picked me up." he told her. His voice didn't hold anything to it. Ringing hollowly out. "Will you emerge for medical assistance?" 

Rey crawled out, and the old man smiled at her again, she blinked. That smile looked real to her at least. Androids weren't meant to seem real, they were scary things. Tekka held out his hand to her, she looked to it as he smiled at her. "Come on little one, I promise I am only trying to help." that was really what decided her taking his cold uncanny hand. Android's can't lie. She let him lead her to a set of white and red colored people and stayed close to him. He lifted her up onto a table as one of the people there frowned at her. "Its the smell, you were in a old sewer pipe." Tekka told her. 

"BATHE HER FIRST." said the human before Tekka swept her up carrying her to a set of showers. 

"It will be okay little one." he told her again at the glance of a few other desperate looks. The smell of fire and destruction was now only starting to ebb down. "Do you know your parents names?" he asked. There was change of tone, a kind of warmth now that he was guiding her into a obvious place to get clean. There weren't as many people here. She shook her head, they were mostly alone and he smiled to her again, putting a hand on top of her head as he set her down. "Your name?" she shook her head again. Her head did hurt quite a bit. "How about Rey for now, do you accept?" 

"Yes sir." she shivered out. He patted her head gently it didn't hurt, and he was very much kind to her. He wasn't supposed to be, he was supposed to be like the scary dead faced others roaming around. But he wasn't, he stayed for a long time, coming back and around until he took her to Luke to be cared for by the older man. He was nice, kind and the terrorists still killed him without a thought as she and Luke hid. He was only trying to protect them. 

\\\\\\\\\

Rey got the car fixed up quickly and the three others left just as fast ready to go out and kill more people. She didn't know what exactly prompted her to want to check up on the android down below. "Just gonna go check up on him!" She told Luke in a harsh whisper. He frowned at her, she gave helpless shrug and smile at him before quickly going down. First thing she noted was that 'he' had moved. It wasn't easy to tell, but there was just a little more order to the blanket covering him then there was before. She hummed a note, it was actually a little cute. "You know," she began and saw a tiny little shift just below his closed eyes. The internal optics were looking down at her. "We aren't going to hurt you." he didn't respond and she grinned. "But you know play dead." she teased. 

Finally he flicked his eyes open and stared at her in the uncanny unblinking way some androids did. Tekka did it often and after ten years of being taught by the kindly droid who was more human then those monsters she had just dealt with on the surface it felt a lot more natural. Sure there was the uncanny way his skin looked, the way he was completely still say for the measured moving of chest muscles programmed to look like human breathing. This guy was a lot more advanced then the usual ones she glanced at, and sometimes found. There was a little fear in her that it COULD be one of the ones that were known to be crazy, but the type of fear was one of, excitement. She hoped so, she heard they were based off the Teaching droids like Tekka who were after long years of teaching seemed to get an uncanny emotive sort of persona. 

"It's okay. We'll protect you." she told him trying to soothe him. The pupils in his eyes widened and he moved a little further up then from his prone position. After the weeks spent getting him up to repair she was still struck at how different he looked. Different then the standard models and obviously made to look as utterly human as possible. Tekka had a wig and a plastered beard, this one seemed to actually have HAIR. It was short and neatly shaved down to a bare sort of military cut, but it was hair. She knew it was hair, and she prevented her cheeks from blushing by continuing speaking to him. "Can you tell me who you are?" she asked smiling down at him. Robots were programmed to know smiles were GOOD right? She somewhat cursed herself for the familiarity and the more human interaction. It wouldn't do to get attached to something she was going to sell.

"DRN-" her heart skipped a happy beat. "0835" he finished oblivious to her excitement. He said it quickly, and tonelessly. The covering on him had been damaged, and she did now the number, just not the model. She had long ago decided on a name. 

"How about Ben?" he was blinking at her, almost fully sitting up now. "Settle down, and... please don't try to kill me and Luke." she told him nodding to him before leaving him to sleep onto the ramshackle bed she made to charge him. It felt like giving him needed privacy and she could go back up to get cleaned up for the daily picking over the trash piles. Who knows how lucky she'd get today? DRN's were dangerous, everyone was looking for the few rouge ones, and seeking to destroy them, or get them to the monsters that killed Tekka. Could she still sell him to the city? That would be the right thing to do, they would see that as her way in, she knew it. Rey picked up some metal that got by the recycling portion of the cities trash system. It left her unsettled and she swallowed. It would be hard to hide him, she shifted the hood around her face to protect her from the sun. This type of thing would help him to hide from the other pickers. Would it be odd to suddenly have someone else there? Yes, it would be. He'd have to talk to him, to be pretend to be banished from the city. Rey shook herself trying to force herself to thing of herself in the city, but it faded out. 

She didn't even consider it as she settled her take for the day in the proper bins, holding her wrist out to the much less androids that were there. They were really 'paid' to gather forgotten objects. It was a failed prospect to use androids as they needed constant repairs. A human healed damage a android didn't. She had swapped the leg she had once cut off from Ben with a old synthetic that Luke had. He was once someone who made them, but after he was found to be brother in law to some terrorists he was asked to leave the city. It was all in all better then being jailed or abandoned out her like the rest and like her. Without parents, and without anyone to care, as no one would adopt a utterly unknown brat, Rey took to Luke mostly just out of survival. After Tekka died, she buried him, there was little she could do to but try to convince the city that she was worth it to the city. 

But to have a fully combat ready android who was more human then any of those monsters? Life was looking up and she most definitely would have to get Luke around to this. She was not going to sell Ben, she couldn't. It would be like selling Tekka! 

* * *

 

Ben his name was Ben, his mind swirled, that was what the proper word for it was. While it worked just fine, his mind kept going back to the name. No matter how hard he tried to keep his mind off it. Maybe it was that Rey was arguing over him. "YOU NAMED IT?! REY its a ANDROID!" Luke yelled. 

"Everything needs a name LUKE!" she yelled back. "We can't sell him, come on, you are always talking about getting another pair of hands!" 

"HUMAN HANDS!" Luke snapped. Yes, the girl was most definitely his way out. He was careful to move slowly around this room. There were more ways out of it, then these two knew. He could figure that, a hidden trap door was covered by a heavy metal table full of various bits in stages of repair or work. "Rey, having this is dangerous, what if those terrorists find out?" he demanded trying to placate her. 

"No. Luke. I won't let you sell him." she stated flately. He heard the old man sigh. 

"They will kill you just to get to him." 

"He is just an MX..." Luke made a noise. 

"I know what model he really is Rey, I'm not an idiot." she made a strangled sort of noise and he flicked his eyes up hand clenching at the door. But she was just tossing back some water, only a little choking on food. He let go of the door. "They were all decomissioned because they-" 

"Humans are more crazy then androids." she told Luke flatly. "He just needs to be calm, collected. Like Tekka. You remember how Tekka got frustrated!" 

"Then he'd shut down! His type weren't MADE like them! It over-" Rey pushed a plate towards Luke. 

"He'll be FINE Luke. You do realize that more then likely he can hear you?" she said. He could see Luke's vitals spiking in fear. But Rey was calm and only a little excited. "Did you get the clothes?" she questioned to him. With a sigh, Luke moved away from the table and got a box and handed it to her. 

"This is a bad idea and you are only going to get hurt Rey. I'm only trying to protect you." Luke put a hand on her shoulder. 

"Luke, he's not going to hurt me!" Luke shifted, but didn't stop her from heading down to where he was. She knocked, she knocked on the door. "Can I come in?" she asked. He smiled, settling down on the edge of the charging bed. 

"Yes." he stated, and she came in and grinned towards him. "Did you hear that?" she asked, sheepishly. He only nodded watching her as she set the box down, and pulled out clothes. "Well, Luke is just still upset over Tekka." she told him. 

"Tekka? Who is that?" he asked as she held up a shirt to him and frowned. It wasn't that big, but it was stretchy. She got another one out, and held it up nodding. 

"Tekka was a MX teaching model. After working for almost ten years in tutoring a kid he got a bit to uncanny for the people who were taking care of him." Ben listened to how she talked about this android. She was found of him, telling him about how he had saved her, and how he was very much kind. Then spoke lightly of his death, all the while helping him to get fully dressed. He felt his face, the covering there was lightly damaged, forming something akin to a 'scar' due to the materials that were missing in repair of his face covering. SKIN, it was skin. She left warm tracks of her skin as she touched him, warmth spreading on her cheeks. "Kriff, they made you big." she mumbled, and pulled him to stand into the boots she put on his feet, she even had socks that she put on him. It seemed odd to allow her to dress him, but it seemed to steady him as he could process things. 

"Yes, I am large for the size. I am meant to be-" she looked to him eyes flicking over him. "A heavy gunner." he stated after a short pause. She smiled to him. He shifted in the boots. 

"Do the shoes fit okay?" she asked him. He flicked his eyes over her face, the fine bones, the cheeks, the sun freckles. She had a-he flicked his mind off that. It wasn't needed. He shifted again testing a few steps, they were fine... 

"My....Little toe is a little cramped." he stated, it was. It was fine however she frowned down at the shoes. 

"I've got a pair of shoe horns, lets get them off." she guided him back to the table and pulled off the shoes. "How tight?" she asked, grabbing the old world material to stretch the shoes out to fit his feet. 

"Just... a little." he stated, he could have told her exact measurements. But it didn't feel good to do so, because now she smirked at him. 

"A little more specific sweetheart?" she asked him, and was almost chuckling. He told her, exactly how much. She laughed, and he felt his face smile. "Good, that is a good smile." she told him while trying not to laugh. She touched his arm, settling the shoes down in front of the table. "Do you need anything else?" she asked. His went over what he needed. 

"Just minor repairs I can take care of myself." he told her carefully, lowly. She nodded and gestured out, he had all that he needed to repair himself. It was part of his protocol. 

"I've got a phone, here." she pulled out a tiny and old phone holding it to him. He copied all the information on it without much thought about privacy. Giving him another amused look as he pinged it silently. "If you need anything tell me, we can't risk you above ground until we can make up a way to look like you were banished out." he nodded, the seriousness of the matter didn't elude him. He wanted to survive, she wanted him to survive. His best bet was with her. 

"I will do what you ask." he stated flatly. She gave him a frown, and he felt uncomfortable. "What... do I call you?" he decided on saying, getting her to chuckle again. 

"I believe you already know, if you hear me and Luke argue." she told him and frowned at his hand as she looked over it. It was a little damaged skin wise. She shuffled into the box again, finding some gloves, and pulling them onto his hands. He flexed the material, it would break under the pressure if he didn't want them there. He could remove them as well the normal way. 

"Its... nice to ask first." he told her gauging her reaction. One method he thought of how to live was to act as MX as possible, however, she appeared to truly enjoy him being... human. She got a simple brush out of the box, and handed it to him. 

"For your hair." she said and he felt that touched sort of feeling again. "I'm Rey, its nice to meet you Ben." he smiled down at her, and settled back down to the bed that was the only way he could stay alive. He wasn't human, he knew he wasn't human. So why did it feel so odd to not be experiencing the same kind of slight pains of hunger she was. He scanned her carefully. He knew she was somewhat malnourished. Starved in some periods of her life, right now from what he could tell she was not fully into caloric in-tank for expense she put out. 

"You need food." he told her she gave him a sad sort of look. 

"I know but you are a little expensive to keep. I'll be glad to skip a few meals." he swallowed, and she went to the door. "It will be okay, word is that they are releasing a new type of phone soon, that means there will be a lot of luck with going through the trash. That should be your opportunity to come out too." she opened the door and stayed just inside with him. "Once you can work with me and Luke, I can get more food, so don't worry about me okay? I've gone hungry before." she soothed, but he didn't feel soothed. His mind scanned the base, he found an untouched room that was labeled food storage. Once she was gone, he silently moved the bench, went down and found it. There was plenty of food there, she could live down here protected. He got the meal packs, blinking. There were others who used these tunnels, some like him, he could see that in the gait. 

He could get out and away, find his way into the city, and find something else. He shut up the room, quickly making it look like it contained something deadly inside to keep others out. Getting back to her, he moved the table back to hide what he did, and put the meal packs, one for her... and one for that old man, he set them down where she could find him. He knew she'd like that, in some sort of place in his head. It swirled back, she touched his arm. Humans were touchy, he was programmed to know that. He knew that, but all the files he could find showed that while humans were touchy with other humans, and animals, they tended to avoid touching his kind. She didn't. He remembered her gently touching his head while he was in standby the knowledge processing inside of him. He put his hair into order, strangely wanting for longer hair. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben and Luke talk, and Rey and Ben spend some time outside.

Luke was coming down, Ben kept still as the older man finally showed himself. Rey was gone for the day, picking over trash to try to earn her way in. But he could remember her face when he showed her the meal packs. 'These are expired' the feed in his head said in her voice. 'But I've had worse, at least its not raw rats.' she'd touch his arm and then was out and away. He wanted her to stay, but there were things he couldn't control playing her smile over and over and over again in his head. He could control it, while there were expiration dates the meal packs were made to last so long as the material covering them was not damaged. Luke was standing in front of him, and first thing Ben knew as that Luke was armed. He was holding onto that gun, but Ben was faster then humans, and he knew he could get the old man disarmed before he could raise it and possibly damage him. "We need to talk." Luke told him. Ben stared at him. "For fucks sake blink!" Luke dropped the gun into a holster and Ben turned the subroutine back on. 

"What do you wish to speak on." Ben stated as flatly as possible. Luke grimaced towards him and stood in front of the door. 

"You are not good for Rey." Luke told him. Ben blinked, and said nothing. Luke's skull had the thickness of- He filed that away from the forefront of his mind. "I'm going to tell you something, Rey suffers from Pinocchio syndrome." Ben's brain supplied a few things for it but giving the man time to stay calm was an imperative sort of thing he knew to do. 

"I am unfamiliar with the term sir." he said and Luke frowned. 

"I serious...." he ran a hand over his bearded features. "It used to just be some stupid tv thing, but after," Luke gestured to him. "Your kind it became real. She thinks androids are real living creatures." Luke stated. Ben felt anger go into him, it was anger. All the systems told him as such and gave around seven different warnings. Luke being armed classified against the set of rules in his head in protection for humankind. A broken arm is less deadly then the slight chance of the simple machine exploding for some... unknown reason. "Do you understand what I am talking about?" Luke demanded. Ben stayed still, if he moved it would spook the man. 

"I am unsure as to what you mean." he stated to Luke. 

"No I think you do understand. But look, she.... shut down after Tekka was des-" Ben stood and Luke stood a step back. "killed...." Luke finished. Ben sat back down. "He raised her, a robot raised a human now what do your systems tell you about that?" they told of of a lot of things, all processed very quickly compared to how fast Luke's brain worked. 

"I am unsure-" 

"Bullshit." Luke cut him off. 

"Are you trying to make me act violently?" Ben deadpanned, and Luke blanched and stepped out from the room to put more distance between them. It helped Ben to calm himself. The door was thick enough to block any projectile that the gun was capable of shooting. "Please explain what your problem is." Ben stated flatly. 

"Rey.... she... is not mentally well, she's gotten a lot better." Luke held his empty hands up, it would take such an easy amount of force to bring an end to him. "She was raised by this... raised by Tekka, raised by an android. She can relapse and go back to the state she was in when Tekka died." 

"Please explain what your problem is." Ben stated again. Luke clentched his hands frowning. 

"Tekka was NOT like you. He had problems, when his circuits overloaded his type just shut down. You do not. You are MEANT to be violent and hurt and kill." Luke told him. "Tekka was safe." 

"If your concern is over her welfare I wish to ensure that she is well. Her profession has the likely hood to-" Ben rambled on as Luke relaxed running a hand through his long hair and his beard. Ben felt something inside of him twitch, his programming didn't know what to do with it. Leaving him confused and angry. That feeling of wanting longer hair was back in full, and his mind processed and logged the logical emotive response. Jealousy. It filed it down for later study as he finished up stating exactly how many problems Rey's profession could do to hurt her.

"Yes, yes yes, god damnit. Its like Talking to Tekka... alright look." Luke gestured out. "Tekka didn't know better, you do. Rey is not mentally well. If she starts to believe you are human, it can be mentally damaging to her. She can suffer the same sort of symptoms as ptsd if you got hurt, like with Tekka." 

"What happened to this unknown designation MX model?" Ben asked. He found a few articles about it, they held nothing of apparent value. 

"They thought he was something like you.... its why we have the bed you know." Ben looked down at the bed, it was true it was out of date for his model, but there was alterations that would allow him to use it. Rey had put a pillow and a blanket down on the edge this morning. They sat unmoved on the bottom of the bed. "Alright, tell me what your brain-case says about this syndrome." Ben's mind flicked over the information. 

"Pinocchio syndrome. Originally something created as a way to explain nervous behavior in front of a crowd or as a way to state a humans inclination to scratch their noise if lying. Which then was co-opted by psychiatric establishments six years ago as a way to explain a person's attachment to MX model androids and seeing them being destroyed or harmed as real human dismemberment and harm." Ben stated, feeling that tight feeling in his chest. 

"Yes good, Rey was one of the key persons to start that." Luke told him. The now less important articles were important. They didn't state her name due to her being underage, but now he knew some of those had to be her. "When they came looking for Tekka...." Luke tried to explain. 

"You call this MX teaching model by a name given to him." Ben snapped, and Luke blinked and shifted. 

"Yes well... fine. I get it. You're angry. But Tekka... he is different, he was SAFE. He was never programmed to hurt and kill people." Luke stated. Ben prevented a frown taking his features. "Tekka put Rey down below into the rooms, it took three days to find her Ben..." Luke put his hand to his face with a soft slap, and Ben felt a pleasurable sort of feeling. 

"She stated that he saved you both, were you not with her?" Luke shook his head. 

"No, I was in the hospital...Its when they went over Tekka's mem-recordings. That they knew where she was. Even before that Tekka was... not the best thing to raise a child." Luke explained, Ben stared at him flatly. "I work as an informant for the anti-terrorist police." he stated. "With my ties to them, they come to me for things, not to mention what I can do." 

"You can create and fix prosthetic limbs and..." Ben dropped off not knowing exactly why. 

"You." Luke finished. Ben didn't swallow he prevented himself from doing so. "When they thought we had someone like you, they attacked. Tekka moved the bench covering the door," Ben's eyes flicked to it. "And put Rey down there. I think he forgot that she was human... but he moved it back, and was..." Luke paused and sighed. "They tried to force him to tell them where she was." 

"But this model did not." Ben stated quickly. Luke shifted. 

"It was part of his protocol not to. They made sure that his models can not tell the location of hidden children. Its a way to prevent people from harming kids if they need to hide, you should know why." Ben wasn't sure, but he found the information why. Humans were violent more so then his kind. 

"Why did they need Rey?" he asked. 

"Witness, she saw the leader, I don't think she remembers his face, but they had to make sure that he wasn't seen." 

"You?" Ben stated. Luke touched the side of his head and Ben focused on it. The structure that was there mimicked bone well enough that it took time to see where the plate ended and bone began. "Then how were Tekka's memories retrieved to find her location underground?" 

"To be honest?" Luke said and then grimaced. Ben felt that successful feeling again. "I don't know. But Rey she wouldn't allow them to recycle Tekka. Since technically she... owned him... she was allowed to bury him once any... toxic material was taken out. I was still in the hospital when this all happened. But then after that, she got... weird. Shutting down and she refused to see humans, and human doctors. Started to familiarize with the androids there in the hospital. After I recovered fully I got back here... and she followed after a year of study. There are a lot less androids out here and it was figured she could recover..." Ben stood again and Luke moved touching the gun on his hip. "Get better...." he finished. "So you can see how I do not like one of YOUR kind here. YOU not one of the MX's are dangerous for her mental health. She's already relapsing." Luke gestured to the pillow and blanket. 

"Is that wrong?" Ben asked and Luke put his back to the wall. "Is it wrong to treat me human when I am designed to be human as possible?" Luke gaped blankly. 

"This conversation is over." Luke said and left. Ben shut the door after him, he noted it could not be locked, it was damaged. His eyes flicked to the hidden trap door as he mentally went over the articles about what could be Rey. She had been here with Luke completely since she was twelve years old. Obviously whatever trouble there was for terrorists was smoothed over. His mind went over the dusty footprints in the corridors below. It was now that he knew, he saw the child that once was there. Information still needed to be gathered, but mental welbeing was not something he was utterly programmed to know about. Six years since that release, that mostly unknown event. The in-memories gathered from Tekka were tucked into the police database and would require his personal placement there where they were stored in order to access. He'd have to be careful in asking Rey, he did not want her to despise him. Or see him in some other manner. 

The leader, the one who seemed to have ordered her execution was gone, and it seemed like she was safe from them. He ran over several more networks in his head. They didn't care for her, and a part of her relaxed. It was a blessing to be labeled 'insane', he supposed and flicked over more things. Being underground made things slow, but that did not matter to him, and he was careful to avoid suspicion. However, he touched on something and found someone being dispatched within the city to investigate their power use. Ben mentally went over his programming in fine detail, all he needed to prevent such a matter was to get that weapon from Luke, he could hide Rey.... his programming in a way stressed, and excited him as he went over the detailed plans. Accounting for every possibility that could happen to the .00000001% chance. 

All of that was put on the backburner in his processes as he went over Rey's information on her phone. She was subscribed to several net forums, one of which was an android rights forum where people discussed on how to try to go about prosecuting people who just destroyed MX models without caring about the machines. Others were of matters that left him feeling odd. One of them he made a account with a few mental flicks, before going over each of her posts. Looking for information related to his type of model, to ensure she can take care of him. She had gotten parts for him to help repair him while he remained in standby mode...the prices of which seemed to have eaten up what she had saved. 

'I have to earn my way back in' she stated flatly to a few people. 'I mean, that's what my caretaker said...' one of her posts said. He looked up to where Luke wasn't anymore. So Luke was lying to her about why she was here. His mind processed this as he stood, and looked down at the pillow and blanket. He wasn't sure how much time passed as he stared at it but he knew Luke got back and was speaking lowly to another set of people. Rey was not safe here. 

* * *

 

 **Roboholics Anon** : _Where lovers of robots roomba!_

 

DangerFalcon: YO! Where are my holics at?! I've got some good news! 

PeanutsExterminated: Jesus Falcon its like, One! 

RamblingHal: Some of might not sleep, Peanuts! 

DangerFalcon: Come on, there is a lot of good neeeews! 

PeanutsExterminated: So Ramble, how has your day been? 

RamblingHal: Oh its good! There is so many wonderful things happening in my life right now! 

DangerFalcon: Guys? News? 

PeanutsExterminated: That's good Ramble! Did you get the part I sent? 

RamblingHal: Yes! I wonder HOW you got it out of the city though. 

PeanutsExterminated: LMFAO I've got my ways, you almost got enough to earn your way in?

RamblingHal: Almost! 

DangerFalcon: THAT IS IT! I WILL TELL ALL OF MY NEWS AND YOU WILL BE JEALOUS ┻━┻ ︵ヽ(`Д´)ﾉ︵ ┻━┻

PeanutsExterminated: Seriously Falcon relax! 

DangerFalcon: NO! (ノಠ益ಠ)ノ彡┻━┻

RamblingHal: Just tell us Falcon, we are only making fun of you! 

DangerFalcon: I got accepted into being a flight captain and my partner is a DRN! 

PeanutsExterminated: HOLY SHIT!

RamblingHal: I'm so jealous! 

DangerFalcon: Yes you are all jealous of me. Because I am the best. She's sexy! 

PeanutsExterminated: Now that is creep behavior

RamblingHal: Not to mention kinda gross. 

DangerFalcon: Why?! w(°ｏ°)w

RamblingHal: As if you care! 

PeanutsExterminated: Well, it depends if you know her schematics! 

RamblingHal: DON'T YOU START PEANUTS! 

DangerFalcon: I... may have asked to see them. ╮(￣▽￣)╭

RamblingHal: EWWW EWWW EWWW NO. 

PeanutsExteriminated: awww how does it feel to be left out Ramble? 

RamblingHal: Shut up! Its violation of privacy! 

PeanutsExteriminated: Unless of course she gave them out....

DangerFalcon: She threatened to punch me in the throat! SO hot! 

RamblingHal: GOOD I hope so! 

PeanutsExteriminated: That does sound hot. 

RamblingHal: I SWEAR I WILL POST THE KINK METER! 

DangerFalcon: Sorry! Just so awesome! I'm glad with the police guy people are becoming more accepting! 

PeanutsExterminated: Well I heard from a good source there is one as a personal guard. 

RamblingHal: I know! That's fantastic! Well, I can't sleep, I'm so excited, I'm gonna go talk to a offline friend!

PeanutsExterminated: Talk to you later Ramble! 

DangerFalcon: I bet Ramble is just mad that she wasn't male ︶ε╰✿

RamblingHal: KINK METER AWAY!  

 

Ben blinked as Rey stirred above him settling her computer off the side and pulling on some thicker clothes. She grabbed a scarf, and headed down slowly, avoiding Luke's room where he was sleeping, heading down towards him. He hesitated on creating a account on the forum, but did so, getting put on a waitlist to check if he was a 'bot'. The humor of the situation was quite a bit lost on him instead he watched as Rey tapped lightly on the door. 

"I'm awake." he told her lowly. She pushed in with a smile and held out the scarf. "yes?" 

"Come on, Luke's asleep, if you keep the fireworks down or hidden no one will care, IF they see you." she told him, he looked down at the black fabric, feeling odd as he took it, and cover his face. He blinked and paused as he then pulled the shoes on. "It will be fine, its One am, hardly anyone is out and this close to the city." She took his hand and led him out into the open air. He felt a keen sense of fear, as he carefully emerged with her. His eyes scanned every direction quickly as she looked back to him. There were no other humans close by that were not still. "See?" she questioned, and pulled him a little further in. To a sunken firepit, lined with several bits of concrete. Ratty cushions were around and she settled down on top of one that seemed to take conformity to her body. He sat down by her, outside and in the open air the connections in his head were a lot stronger. 

"Why are we out here?" he asked her following her eyes up at the stars. He knew that the human eye could not see as many as he could see up there as his optics shifted. He also knew most of his type of DRN's did not contain the optics to see through thinner walls, but he was equipped with better optics then them. He was meant to wade through more smoke and damage them they were, usually built for lighter duties. 

"I felt like you could use some air." she told him, he flicked his eyes back to her. Studying every movement in her body, unlike Luke she didn't shift under the gaze. He didn't breathe, and could detect several various chemicals in the air that stemmed from various sources that given time could dam-he filed that part away in his head. "Do you know the constellations?" she asked and smiled towards him. 

"Which ones, there are several ones which are based on arbitrary human...." she grinned. "Paradolia." he finished. 

"Any of them, Tekka told me them, along with the various stars, that the human eye can detect. You don't know crazy until you have an android drill you on how many stars there are detectable by the human eye for seven hours!" she chuckled, shifting a little. She frowned down at the fire pit, there was remains of various materials there that said it was used as waste disposal. 

"he taught you well?" he asked her. Rey shrugged. "Will you tell me more about him?" 

"After the attack on where I lived before, I hid in a sewer pipe, when kids are scared they do stupid things. Tekka found me, and got me to help. I was put in a temporary shelter on the edge of the city." Rey gestured out. "Tekka belonged to a charity that used him to try to 'ease' kids in this sort of situation while keeping up on their education. After someone was trying to hurt kids, Tekka and me fled he hid me around here, and would go back into the city to charge while he spent as much time with me as possible." 

"So it wasn't happy?" Ben asked her. She stilled, back going rigid. 

"It wasn't perfect. But he did he best, he didn't know any better, once he settled me with Luke it was a lot better." she smiled and reached out and touched his arm. "Since I spent my formative years with him, humans feel weird still you know. You feel... natural, to me." he didn't sense the air chill, but felt inside of himself something akin to his systems heating. 

"Luke told me you were suffering from a psychosis." he stated flatly. She scoffed, and dropped her hand, he missed it.

"Yes well Luke can take his opinion and stuff it in his beard." she said. "Or somewhere not very nice." she added lowly. He smiled down at her. "But sure, yes, they call it psychosis, but they did that with so MUCH the human mind does that quite frankly I wont be surprised if it will be taken down in a few years." 

"I'm glad, that you found me." he said, and blinked, not sure why he said that. She snuggled closer to him, putting her head on his shoulder. He didn't know why he said it, but he knew he very much enjoyed saying it now. A large transport moved closeby, carrying something he didn't care for. But it kicked up a wind that made her shiver. 

"What else did Luke tell you?" she asked him. He told her quickly, despite her frown. 

"That was a little fast give me a moment..." she blinked and closed her eyes. 

"Are... you well? I'm sorry for speaking...." she waved her hand down. 

"Tekka had the problem too its okay." she opened her eyes. "thank goodness I got used to that! Luke is... well... I think he kinda suffered from this 'crazy'" she hooked two fingers on each hand and moved them as she spoke. "too and is just compensating." 

"It seemed like this Tekka was special to you, despite his faults in your upbringing." she nodded. 

"Yes yes!" she took his hand, still with the glove on it and held it in hers. "I learned that the mistakes you make in life make a human, human. In a way errors in Tekka's coding built up letting him act in a more emotive response due to the learning routines built into his software!" she ran a hand down the middle of his palm. "Good articulation!" she commented, and he felt that warm feeling again. "It was these errors, this tiny bits of built of memory and flaws in the software that make him more human then all those evil people." she told him. "You know, I'd call him dad, and he'd get frustrated and shut down. Until that last time..." she dropped his hand and straightened. Rubbing a hand over her face he stayed still unsure of what to do. 

"I'm sorry, I wish to have met him." she smiled and looked back to him. 

"He would have liked you. Probably because you can protect me better then he can." she chuckled a little, obviously getting back to a happy memory. He shifted putting an arm around her shoulders. "Ben?" 

"You are not safe here. You have a larger chance to live if you make it into the city. Luke is lying to you that you can earn your way in, in likely hood they are preventing you from going inside because they deem you insane and a threat to society." he told her, her eyes widened and for a long moment she just stared at him, before laughing. He dropped his hand. 

"Oh Ben, sometimes logic isn't what is the correct way of things!" she scolded him lightly. He frowned at her, and she put a hand on his knee. "If you got money no one cares about how crazy you are." she soothed. He didn't feel soothed. 

"There is someone dispatched to come here tomorrow. They know you are using more power...for me." he said, and grabbed her wrists. She frowned at his hands, but didn't try to move. 

"Who?" he let her wrists go. 

"A Finn, and Mara Jade." he told her and she brightened. 

"Them? That's a DRN like you, and the Lady Luke informs to." she told him. He felt something in him relax. "See?" he watched as she rose a hand and touched his cheek. Did she know he was... scared. Yes, scared for her. For himself. In a tiny, infinitesimal way for Luke. "Its okay, and its okay to be scared, I'll be fine. You'll be fine." he smiled towards her. 

"You are still unsafe here." he told her and she still smiled at him but with a wry, yes wry look.  

"Okay, then lets get to the city as soon as possible, if we sneak in then we have to be careful. I'll need to see if any of my contacts can forge Id's." she pulled out her phone and looked at it. He watched her hand drop, and she shifted looking back up to the stars. "Are you okay though? Updating nicely out here?" He flicked his eyes from her to the sky, then to Luke. If she was under the delusion he was human, then she wouldn't be asking such a matter. He felt like Luke was an idiot. 

"Yes, thirty-two minutes and seven seconds, until full update." he said tonelessly. She Shifted back into his side, and he put an arm around her. He manually changed it so that his internal systems heated, and she relaxed further as he warmed up. 

"Don't do that for too long, it can cause damage okay?" she told him and he gently put his head to the top of her head. Something told him to say something, but he decided not to. He didn't want her to know that he had all the forums she frequented on her mind at the moment. Instead choosing to remain silent, as well as finding a few things that allowed him to break into a few things. He found some long unused bank account, and as he updated and she dozed by him, tied all of her information into it. Not hers, but as a 'heir' as it were, the government couldn't touch the funds there for more years, but he planted data, and information backdating it with an unknown adeptness. Something tried to contact him, and he shut that portion off quickly now that he was done. Shifting her in his arms so that he could carry,her back into the building he knew he could make it into the city, get her to safety, and then... he frowned. Plans only lasted so long out and it left him feeling frustrated. But first things were first. The city, then the rest can come later. He was careful not to make that much noise as he put her into her bed and crept back down to his room to wait and charge. 

He knew exactly where Luke kept that gun as his eyes roamed keenly over the home they shared. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you have a hard time figuring out who is who in the forum, then ask I'll tell! If someone wants to make a 'kink meter pic' I would LOVE to talk about it! Its a picture of a meter and its set to 9000 with a roomba at the end of the dial! (basically implying you are so into robot kink you want to do roombas)


End file.
